Tri-Conference 2004

March 31-April 2, 2004
Century II and Hyatt Hotel
Wichita, Kansas

Ian Jukes will present a program entitled “Windows on the Future: Being InfoSavvy in the Information Age” Wednesday morning, March 31, from 9:30-11:30 a.m.

This presentation explores the implications of global trends and examines how these trends are impacting libraries and librarians. It suggests that the role of librarians is no longer just to work with children, but with teachers and the community, in order to develop their information fluency skills and profile an integrated, interdisciplinary, problem solving information literacy framework. Participants will come away with a clear understanding of how to teach critical thinking, problem solving, decision making and information processing skills in a structured and progressive manner.

Jukes has been a teacher, administrator, writer, consultant, university instructor and keynote speaker. As the Director of the InfoSavvy Group, as well as being an Associate Director for both the Thornburg Center for Professional Development in San Carlos, California, and Education Technology Planners in Sedalia, Colorado, he has worked extensively with school districts, businesses, community organizations and other institutions. He is the creator and co-developer of TechWorks, the internationally acclaimed K-8 technology framework; was the catalyst behind the NetSavvy and InfoSavvy information literacy series; and is a Contributing Editor for both the Audio Education Journal and Technology and Learning magazine.

As an educator first, his focus has consistently been on the compelling need to restructure schools so they become relevant to the current and future needs of our children. His rambunctious, irreverent and highly charged presentations emphasize many of the practical issues related to ensuring that change is meaningful. As a registered educational evangelist, his self-avowed mission in life is to ensure that children are properly prepared for their future rather than society's past. As a result, his presentations tend to focus on many of the pragmatic issues that provide the essential context for educational restructuring. Fasten your seat belts and strap on your cerebral flak jacket. Counseling can and will be provided. Program sponsored by KAN-ED and NEKLS.

Author Chris Crutcher will present “Turning Real Life Into Fiction” at the General Session Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

Chris Crutcher is the critically acclaimed author of 10 books including WHALE TALK, STAYING FAT FOR SARAH BYRNES, ATHLETIC SHORTS and most recently KING OF THE MILD FRONTIER: AN ILL-ADVISED AUTOBIOGRAPHY. He was named the 2000 recipient of the ALA’s Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award and the NCTE’s Intellectual Freedom Award winner in 1998. He is a columnist for Voices From the Middle, a quarterly publication from the NCTE and an expert advisor at iParenting.com. His work is known for its unyielding commitment to the honest portrayal of realistic teens, as well as its humor. He lives in Spokane, Washington.

The concurrent session will take place Thursday at 10:30 a.m. with autographing to follow at 11:30 a.m. in the Exhibit Area. Books written by Crutcher will be available for purchase, please limit your autograph requests to two books.

Don Blakeslee, Department of Anthropology at Wichita State University, will present Sacred Places: Indian Shrines on the Plains at the CULS Luncheon Thursday, April 1, at 11:30 a.m.

From Texas to Alberta, the natives of the Great Plains made pilgrimages to sacred sites such as Colorado's Manitou Springs and Nebraska's Guide Rock. In Kansas, meteorite fields, council circles, and earthen carvings are still visible today.

The featured speaker at the KASL Luncheon Friday, April 2, at 11:30 a.m. will be children’s author Jean Marzollo.

Jean Marzollo was drawn to poetry early in life. She loved to hear her grandmother, mother and father recite poems from memory and she loved to read. One of her favorite books was A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. Also, her mother had several small poetry books on her bookshelf. With their leather covers and gold titles, they were treasures to her. She liked to hold them and gently turn the soft, crumbling pages.

Marzollo enjoys all the steps of the creative process. She likes getting ideas, writing and revising; she even likes punctuation! To see the caterpillar of an idea slowly change into the butterfly of a book is a thrill to her every time.

After graduating from the University of Connecticut in 1964, Marzollo received a Masters in Teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She taught for several years and then became involved in educational publishing. For twenty years she was editor of Let’s Find Out, Scholastic’s kindergarten magazine. In fact, it was through this job that she met the exceptionally talented photographer, Walter Wick. Carol Devine Carson, the art director, and Marzollo hired him to do some kindergarten posters for them, and because they turned out so well, they started thinking about books. The result was I Spy, which has grown into a collection of ten picture riddle books, six little books, and three CD-ROMS, as well as many puzzles and games.

Marzollo feels delighted and privileged to keep a close link with children, teachers and administrators through author visits. She likes to look into children’s eager eyes and talk with them about books and creativity. She remembers their eyes when she writes. She finds children inspirational, wherever she goes. As a writer, she works alone in a room, so meeting with her readers is a treat. Marzollo lives with her husband in the Hudson Valley in New York State. Her website is: www.jeanmarzollo.com .

Copies of the author’s books will be available for sale, autographing will take place at 9:30 on Friday in the Exhibit Area.

Organization Representatives: